§ 429. Home visiting. 1. In accordance with a plan developed by the office of children and family services and approved by the director of the budget and within the amounts which the director of the budget determines should be made available therefor, such office, in conjunction with the department of health, is authorized to issue grants for home visiting programs to prevent child abuse and maltreatment, enhance positive parent child interactions, increase healthy outcomes for families and empower families to develop and achieve their self-sufficiency goals. To the extent that federal funds are used to support home visiting programs, such programs must be operated in accordance with all applicable federal laws and regulations. To the extent possible and appropriate, funding for the home visiting program shall be coordinated with other available funding to maximize the effective use of federal, state and local moneys and to promote the program's purposes.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

2. Each home visiting program funded under this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following activities:

(a) providing screening of families in the targeted geographical area upon the birth of a child and prenatally, if possible;

(b) engaging those expectant parents and families with an infant determined to be at risk of child abuse or maltreatment and/or poor health outcomes to participate in the home visiting program;

(c) providing home visits by nurses or by community workers under the supervision of a health or social services professional to those at risk expectant parents and families who choose to participate in the program;

(d) requiring the home visitors to:

(i) assist parents in learning about child development principles;

(ii) assist parents in accessing appropriate preventive health care for their children and themselves; and

(iii) link the families to other supports and activities in the community;

(e) determining the frequency of the home visiting services provided to each participating family based on the family's needs;

(f) continuing home visits for a particular family until the child enters school or a head start program, when necessary; and

(g) assisting families to develop and obtain the necessary supports to achieve their self-sufficiency goals.

3. A request for proposals shall be issued to solicit applications for home visiting programs. Priority for funding shall be given to applicants from communities identified as high need by such factors as poverty rates, rates of adolescent pregnancy, rates of child abuse and maltreatment, immunization rates and infant mortality rates.

4. Not-for-profit organizations and local public agencies such as community-based organizations, family resource centers, local health departments, local social services departments, schools, hospitals and other health agencies shall be eligible to apply for the grants available pursuant to this section.

5. Each applicant shall demonstrate among other things:

(a) a working relationship with the applicable local departments of health and social services and key services providers in the community;

(b) the commitment of local hospitals, prenatal clinics and early intervention programs servicing families in the targeted geographical area to promote the effective screening of families so that the program can be offered to the maximum number of at-risk expectant parents and families possible;

(c) its administrative and fiscal viability and the community's support for the home visiting program; and

(d) how the home visiting program would be integrated with other available services, programs and funding streams.

6. The commissioner of the office of children and family services shall establish policies governing enrollees' rights and confidentiality, and each home visiting program shall, in accordance with such policies, inform enrollees of their rights, and of such policies governing confidentiality.

7. The office of children and family services shall submit to the governor and the legislature by December first, two thousand, and every three years thereafter, a report which shall include a review of all the home visiting programs funded under this section; and comments and recommendations based on a comprehensive evaluation regarding the most effective models for providing home visiting services and statutory changes which could improve the state's ability to prevent child abuse and maltreatment, improve healthy outcomes for families and empower families to develop and obtain their self-sufficiency goals.

8. Any home visiting program that meets the criteria delineated in this section as determined by factors set by the office of children and family services and the department of health, regardless of whether such program contracts with or receives funding from the state, may provide the necessary information to such offices as is required by subdivision (i) of section seventeen of this chapter or paragraph (w) of subdivision one of § 201 of the public health law in order for their program to be made available on the internet mapping resource maintained by the council on children and families pursuant to section four hundred eighty-three-h of this chapter.